They're Short-Handed, But It Helps That Two Of The Hands Are Stewart's

Auriemma Is Aware That UConn Is Not A Sympathetic Figure

February 09, 2014|Jeff Jacobs

STORRS — Louisville had the best team in the land within five points with five minutes remaining in the first half Sunday at a sold-out Gampel Pavilion. The subject of the UConn women playing short-handed brings no shortage of eye-rolling from opposing coaches nowadays, but the Huskies are short-handed nonetheless.

So there was Breanna Stewart, playing as many minutes as Geno Auriemma needed, with the basketball in her hands just outside the three-point arc.

"I knew I was coming to pinch post," Stewart said after her 24 points led UConn to an 81-64 rout of No. 4 Louisville. "I was faking the handoff. I was trying to see how the girl was playing me, and she wasn't up on me. I knew once I turned I'd be able to get the shot off."

Bang. One three.

Same thing next possession. Bang. Another three.

With two shrugs of the shoulder, two turns of her willow-tree frame and a one-two to the Cardinals' jaw, Stewart blew open the rematch of the 2013 national championship game in 32 seconds.

"There's no question she's the best player in the country, in my opinion," Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. "When you have breakdowns, she makes you pay for them.

"We told our kids keep it in her face and make her drive or shoot a contested pull-up because that's not her strength. We were two feet away from her, but we had our hands down. Big-time shots."

Inside, outside, in no particular rush to complete the spectacular, Dirk Nowitzki seemed like the perfect male-to-female comparison. But now she is so clearly the best player, so clearly able to come down the court and do what she needs, Kevin Durant seems more and more apt.

"Those two names aren't bad," Stewart said, breaking into a smile, when asked upon whom she'd like her game to pattern. "I'm not sure. To be compared to those names is a really high honor. At the same time I'm trying to expand my game."

Auriemma was laughing about a play early in the second half when Stewart had the ball in front of the UConn bench. He wanted UConn to use some clock. Stewie just jumped up and knocked in a three right in front of him. No problem.

"What the hell are you going to do?" Auriemma said. "Look, Stewie scores them exactly when you need them. You can look at somebody with 24 points and 16 are meaningless. Every one of her points seems to mean something. It's like a guy who hits two home runs in the eighth inning when you're up 12-3. Who cares? Stewie hits three-run homers when we're down two. That's what separates her from everybody else."

In other words, compare her to Dirk or Durant; just don't compare her to A-Rod.

The Huskies have beaten five Top 10 teams by an average of 17 points. In the four games against Top 10 teams, since Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis hurt her elbow against Stanford, Stewart is averaging 37 minutes and 23 points. That's far above her season average of 29 minutes and 19 points.

By now we know how good Stewart can be. With Morgan Tuck out for the season, with Brianna Banks battling an ankle injury, with KML throwing another scare into UConn fans by banging her other elbow, the question now is how good does Stewart have to be?

"Of course you can," Walz answered when asked if UConn can win the national title with seven scholarship players. "It must just be awful to have to play Stewart 37 minutes. I don't know how he sleeps at night. Going home tonight and I had to play Moriah Jefferson 40 minutes and Stefanie Dolson 39, I probably wouldn't eat. It's not like you're playing two walk-ons. I love [walk-on] Shelby Harper to death. She started for me when we were hurt. I'm not sure how well he'd do if he had a walk-on that had to start the entire conference play."

Auriemma started hearing this kind of stuff early from Maryland's Brenda Frese, and he knows sympathy will be in short order. When you are undefeated and are shooting for your ninth national title, as Wilt Chamberlain once said, nobody roots for Goliath.

"Short of playing with four players, there's nothing else that would put us [deeper] in that danger zone," said Auriemma, insisting UConn already is in that zone. "We can't afford a sprained ankle. We can't afford three fouls in the first half. We can't afford the flu.

"I don't know if anybody is going to have a telethon to send us a couple of players when we need them. We've got to manage it best we can. This isn't going to be easy the next two months."

Stewart talks about preparing herself in practice this season for going 40 if needed. She said she believes the Huskies have enough.

"You don't want to have to play six players [as UConn did briefly Sunday when KML went out]," Stewart said, "but if you have to you will because the end result is winning a national championship."

Her coach, however, says this is a lot less about the physical with Stewart.